Life Unplugged

Thought for today: When we take time off for a change of pace, we can learn about ourselves.  When we refuse to give in to panic about “not being productive,” we can give in to exploration and fun renewal. It’s not that we can never plan for the future or meditate on the past.  It’s that […]

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Analyzing Our Numbers Over Time

Thought for today: At the end of our Pressure Relief Meeting we will want to schedule our next one, usually one month into the future.   In between, we will continue the daily practice if tracking our numbers, gathering useful perspective along the way to help measure our progress. A member shares: “Doing my numbers has […]

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Processing the Results of My First Pressure Relief Meeting

Thought for today: After our Pressure Relief Meeting is over, and we have a new Spending Plan and an Action Plan for dealing with our debts and our life,  we will be on course to grow in solvency.  Our Pressure Relief Group has given us honest feedback about our current situation and we are now becoming […]

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Getting Through My First Pressure Relief Meeting

Thought for today: Continuing on the theme of sharing and pressure relief, let’s talk about what happens in a Pressure Relief Meeting. A member shares: “I like to start my Pressure Meetings with a short prayer like the Serenity Prayer.  Then I hand out my numbers and give the group a chance to review them. “My Pressure […]

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Preparing for My First Pressure Relief Meeting

Thought for today: Having set up our spending categories, and tracked our numbers for a few weeks, the next step to simple pressure relief in DA is to put together a realistic spending plan that puts our needs first.  To do this we schedule a Pressure Relief Meeting (PRM) during which we will share with our Pressure Relief Group (PRG) our categories for income, spending, […]

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Why Do We Share Our Experience, Strength and Hope?

Thought for today: Sharing, in DA, means talking about ourselves at a meeting.  We talk about our experience with money and creditors (before and after DA), our sources of strength (DA, God, the fellowship, the Steps) and our hope for today and for better days to come as we work the program.   Why should we do that? A […]

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Am I Grateful?

Thought for today: Father Martin, a very public advocate of the Twelve Steps, once said that “Gratitude is the one coin with which you can buy God.”   How could he say that? His talks described how gratitude heals.  Gratitude helps our recovery grow. If we are grateful, we have no capacity for hatred.  We set aside old wounds, not in […]

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Crunching the Numbers

Thought for today: For debtors, pressure builds up over time.  It comes from not understanding where money is going, feeling out of control. Pressure Relief starts to come when we understand what is causing pressure.  Writing down a list of all of our expenses serves as a beginning, but what do we do with the list we have […]

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7 Decluttering Ideas To Evaluate “How Important Is It?”

Thought for today: Getting rid of clutter is a side benefit of working the program of recovery and getting our lives in order again.  We want to feel that our possessions are accessible, necessary, and bring us joy, not overwhelming, falling apart, or depressing. A member shares: “Clutter has been a part of my entire adult life.  Ever […]

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Dealing With Emotional Turmoil

Thought for today: Sometimes life deals us things that we don’t like, and we want to react emotionally.  When this happens, we need to deal with the feelings first, sharing them with our sponsor and friends in fellowship.  We don’t want to make rash decisions while we are upset. A member shares: “When I first came to DA, I had a […]

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